Case Digest: Odango v. NLRC, G.R. No. 147420, June 10, 2004

    Labor Law | Appeal 

• Petitioners are monthly-paid employees of Antique Electric Cooperative (ANTECO), working from Monday to Friday and half of Saturday. 
• In 1989, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) found ANTECO liable for underpayment, directing them to pay wage differentials, which ANTECO failed to pay. 
• In 1995, 33 monthly-paid employees filed complaints with NLRC, seeking wage differentials, damages, and attorneys fees. 
• Labor Arbiter: Ruled in favor of petitioners.
• NLRC: Reversed LA Decision.
• CA: The petition was insufficient in form and substance since it "does not allege the essential requirements of the extra-ordinary special action of certiorari." 
• The Court of Appeals faulted petitioners for failing to recite "where and in what specific instance public respondent abused its discretion.

WoN the CA is correct in dismissing the claim. YES

Petitioners argue that the Court of Appeals erred in dismissing their petition because this Court had already ruled that their petition is sufficient in form and substance. They argue that this precludes any judgment to the contrary by the Court of Appeals. Petitioners cite this Court’s Resolution dated 13 January 1999 as their basis. This Resolution granted petitioners’ motion for reconsideration and set aside the dismissal of their petition for review.

Petitioners’ reliance on our 16 September 1998 Resolution is misplaced. In our Resolution, we dismissed petitioners’ case for failure to comply with Section 11, Rule 13 of the Rules of Court.7 The petition lacked a written explanation on why service was made through registered mail and not personally.

The error petitioners committed before the Court of Appeals is different. The appellate court dismissed their petition for failure to comply with the first paragraph of Section 3 of Rule 468 in relation to Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, outlining the necessary contents of a petition for certiorari. This is an entirely different ground. The previous dismissal was due to petitioners’ failure to explain why they resorted to service by registered mail. This time the content of the petition itself is deficient. Petitioners failed to allege in their petition the specific instances where the actions of the NLRC amounted to grave abuse of discretion.

There is nothing in this Court’s Resolution dated 13 January 1999 that remotely supports petitioners’ argument. What we resolved then was to reconsider the dismissal of the petition due to a procedural defect and to refer the case to the Court of Appeals for its proper disposition. We did not in any way rule that the petition is sufficient in form and substance.

Petitioners also argue that their petition is clear and specific in its allegation of grave abuse of discretion. They maintain that they have sufficiently complied with the requirement in Section 3, Rule 46 of the Rules of Court.

Again, petitioners are mistaken.

We quote the relevant part of their petition:

REASONS RELIED UPON FOR ALLOWANCE OF PETITION

12. This Honorable court can readily see from the facts and circumstances of this case, the petitioners were denied of their rights to be paid of 4 hours of each Saturday, 51 rest days and 10 legal holidays of every year since they started working with respondent ANTECO.

13. The respondent NLRC while with open eyes knew that the petitioners are entitled to salary differentials consisting of 4 hours pay on Saturdays, 51 rest days and 10 legal holidays plus 10% attorney’s fees as awarded by the Labor Arbiter in the above-mentioned decision, still contrary to law, contrary to existing jurisprudence issued arbitrary, without jurisdiction and in excess of jurisdiction the decision vacating and setting aside the said decision of the Labor Arbiter, to the irreparable damage and prejudice of the petitioners.

14. That the respondent NLRC in grave abuse of discretion in the exercise of its function, by way of evasion of positive duty in accordance with existing labor laws, illegally refused to reconsider its decision dismissing the petitioners’ complaints.

15. That there is no appeal, nor plain, speedy and adequate remedy in law from the above-mentioned decision and resolution of respondent NLRC except this petition for certiorari.

These four paragraphs comprise the petitioners’ entire argument. In these four paragraphs petitioners ask that a writ of certiorari be issued in their favor. We find that the Court of Appeals did not err in dismissing the petition outright. Section 3, Rule 46 of the Rules of Court requires that a petition for certiorari must state the grounds relied on for the relief sought. A simple perusal of the petition readily shows that petitioners failed to meet this requirement.

The appellate court’s jurisdiction to review a decision of the NLRC in a petition for certiorari is confined to issues of jurisdiction or grave abuse of discretion. An extraordinary remedy, a petition for certiorari is available only and restrictively in truly exceptional cases. The sole office of the writ of certiorari is the correction of errors of jurisdiction including the commission of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. It does not include correction of the NLRC’s evaluation of the evidence or of its factual findings. Such findings are generally accorded not only respect but also finality. A party assailing such findings bears the burden of showing that the tribunal acted capriciously and whimsically or in total disregard of evidence material to the controversy, in order that the extraordinary writ of certiorari will lie.

We agree with the Court of Appeals that nowhere in the petition is there any acceptable demonstration that the NLRC acted either with grave abuse of discretion or without or in excess of its jurisdiction. Petitioners merely stated generalizations and conclusions of law. Rather than discussing how the NLRC acted capriciously, petitioners resorted to a litany of generalizations.

Petitions that fail to comply with procedural requisites, or are unintelligible or clearly without legal basis, deserve scant consideration. Section 6, Rule 65 of the Rules of Court requires that every petition be sufficient in form and substance before a court may take further action. Lacking such sufficiency, the court may dismiss the petition outright.

The insufficiency in substance of this petition provides enough reason to end our discussion here. However, we shall discuss the issues raised not so much to address the merit of the petition, for there is none, but to illustrate the extent by which petitioners have haphazardly pursued their claim.